Benita Valente - Great Singers of the 20th Century Voi.1

One probably would not have to venture very far afield among fanciers of classical vocal music to find affirmation of soprano Benita Valente as one of the pre-eminent American concert singers of all time. However, for some reason the CD market has heretofore altogether lacked a disc that focused on Valente's artistry exclusively, in recordings made during her prime. Bridge's issue Benita Valente in its freshly minted series Great Singers of the 20th Century -- in which this appears as Vol. 1 -- appears to redress such shortfall. The Bridge issue combines recordings made originally for LP labels -- Desmar, Pantheon, and the still-active Centaur label -- and a couple of recordings made at the Marlboro Festival, at which Valente was once a frequent flyer. Even some of the support staff here contains some legendary names -- pianists Rudolf Serkin and Richard Goode, conductor Alexander Schneider, and clarinetist Harold Wright among them -- and the tapes Bridge have been able to access for the project are excellently well preserved, even the previously unreleased live dates from Marlboro. If this volume is any indication of what's in store in Bridge's Great Singers of the 20th Century series, then enthusiasts of vocal music really have something to look forward to.